Bulletin

Dan Roberts, Jenni Elliott and Bart Shaw

Dan Roberts, deputy head of Devonport High School for Boys in Plymouth, becomes the school’s tenth headteacher when he takes over from Kieran Earley in September.

Mr Roberts says he will balance “the rich history and tradition steeped in the school” with introducing new dimensions to teaching and learning.

“I want to balance that tradition and history with developing the school in the way that we use technology, and the impact the school has on education nationally and internationally.”

Mr Roberts has won numerous national and international teaching awards for his work with technology, including awards from Microsoft.

In 2009 he helped to advise the Obama administration as part of its educational technology reform 2020 plan.

Mr Roberts, 36, has a degree in marine biology from the University of Plymouth. After university he was selected to train as a RAF pilot but lost his place on medical grounds — his legs are too long to allow him to safely eject from a plane.

He then completed a PGCE a masters in education at the University of St Mark and St John, Devon.

Jenni Elliott has been appointed as the new head of Roydon Primary School, Essex.

She was assistant head at Cooks Spinney Primary in Harlow, a fellow Burnt Mill Co-operative Academy Trust (BMAT) school.

Ms Elliott, 40, joined BMAT in September last year after teaching in Spain for ten years. She describes the Spanish education system as “quite different and generally more formal and reliant on textbooks”.

However, she taught in a British school in Madrid. “It was just like any school here . . . it felt like walking into a mini-Britain every day, although it was a bit sunnier!”

She plans to set up a Spanish club and introduce philosophy into every lesson at Roydon.

“Philosophy has a huge impact on learning because it teaches children critical thinking skills, including the ability to evaluate and make decisions. Not to mention how much it improves their speaking and listening, and social skills.”

Ms Elliott studied science in psychology at the University of Hertfordshire and completed a PCGE at the Institute of Education in London.

Bart Shaw will join LKMco as an associate next month.

Combining his experience in policymaking in central government with hands-on experience as a teacher, Mr Shaw says his move to the think and action tank “seems like the logical next step in terms of trying to make a wider difference but still be engaged with the real world”.

He joined the Department for Education in 2006, where he developed, delivered and evaluated national policies including the £13 million subsidy pathfinder that helped disadvantaged students access after-school activities.

He was seconded to the Cabinet Office for a year in 2008 where he helped to draft weekly briefings for the Prime Minister at PMQs.

He left the civil service in 2011 to do a PGCE and then worked as a geography teacher, data analyst and head of department at Buxton Community School, Derbyshire, for four years.

The 33-year-old has a degree in geography from the University of Manchester and a masters in governance and development from the University of Sussex.